


Left Behind

by Jackkel Dragon (jackkel_dragon)



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Gen, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-01-26 14:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1691120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackkel_dragon/pseuds/Jackkel%20Dragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Homura is willing to abandon any timeline that ends in failure, those left behind aren't so lucky. Sayaka has just over a week to find a way to save her doomed world from the monster that once was her best friend Madoka. Are two magical girl rookies joined by a single veteran enough to stop a witch stronger than Walpurgisnacht?</p><p>(The Prelude and Epilogue are told from different perspectives than the rest of the story.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude

I watched closely as the ward faded and the forms of Madoka, Miki, and Sakura reappeared. I frowned when I saw Miki toss the grief seed she had claimed to Sakura. From my experience so far, that could only lead to Miki falling into despair and becoming a witch. Knowing Madoka, she would try to change Miki back.

I suppressed a memory of Madoka's bisected body bleeding out as I knelt helplessly next to her. I had to act this time.

I transformed and leaped over to where Sakura was standing and turned to face Madoka and Miki. An ugly frown formed on Miki's face when she saw me, as I expected of her.

"What do you want?" She snarled at me, turning to face away from me and crossing her arms.

"Yeah, what're you doin' here?" Sakura said as she took a step away from me.

I considered my words. Neither of them were familiar with what happened when a soul gem was too tainted with despair, I knew as much from the other times. But they would doubt me if I tried to tell the whole truth. So I decided on a small lie.

"Sayaka Miki. You are aware that you must replenish your soul gem with grief seeds, are you not?"

Miki glared at me. "I'm not like you, alright? I'll fight to protect people, not for my own benefit."

I shook my head disapprovingly. "This isn't a matter of whether you're like me or not. If you don't maintain your soul gem properly, you will die. Unless you plan on protecting people from beyond the grave, you'll want to reconsider throwing away grief seeds on principle."

Miki's eyes widened a bit. Madoka turned to me and spoke in a low whisper. "Is… is that true? Will Sayaka die if her soul gem isn't purified?…"

I nodded. I saw Sakura cross her arms from the corner of my vision. "What made ya decide to tell us this now? You seem to know quite a few things we don't."

"I'm merely providing a warning in the hopes Miki will reconsider her stance on collecting grief seeds." I ran a hand through my hair. "What you do with that warning is up to you. I no longer consider myself responsible if you die from neglecting your soul gems."

Miki glared at me. A long silence passed. Then she turned to Sakura and held out a hand with her head lowered. Sakura handed over the grief seed and shot me a glare of her own. I turned away, forcing myself to not observe Madoka's reaction. My job here was done for the day.


	2. Episode 1

I stuggled to my feet, using my sword as a cane to try to stand up. A hand reached down for me and I looked up to see Kyoko. I took the hand and forced myself to stand. I checked my soul gem to see that it was becoming cloudy. I looked out into the battlefield to see that Walpurgisnacht was still rampaging without any sign we had even hurt it.

Kyoko pressed a grief seed into my hand. "I have some spares, so don't be shy if you need more."

I took the grief seed and held it next to my soul gem, feeling the power being restored to me as the cloudiness was transferred between the two objects. I tossed the spent grief seed aside and saw Kyubey devour it from the corner of my vision.

"Nothing is working." I frowned at the destroyed city around us. "Have we even scratched it?"

"We can't give up now, can we?" Kyoko slapped me on the shoulder. "Get out of pity mode so we can kick this witch's ass!"

Akemi alighted next to us, seemingly exhausted. "Do you have any spare grief seeds? I'm out."

Kyoko tossed a grief seed to Akemi. "So, change of plans? Our normal attacks aren't doing much to slow this thing down."

Akemi handed the spent grief seed to Kyubey. "This witch is more powerful than anything we've faced before. We have to persevere until we wear it down."

Kyubey tilted his head at us. "If you let Madoka make a contract with me, I'm sure she could finish off this witch easily now that you've destroyed most of its familiars."

"That's not an option!" Akemi shouted. We all stared at her and she lowered her head until she regained her composure. "We just keep fighting until we win. Don't take any unnessary risks; we only have so many grief seeds."

I nodded. "Right. Let's do this!"

We all leaped back into the fray. Kyoko and I attacked from one side of Walpurgisnacht while Akemi blasted the other away with rockets and gunfire. For every attack the witch lashed out with rubble from the city below, knocking us back and forcing us to waste energy getting back into position.

I didn't want to believe it, but I was forced to admit the truth to myself after nearly being crushed a certain number of times: we had no chance of winning without a miracle.

Kyoko was tossing me her last grief seed when suddenly a floating building flung itself at her. I tried to push her out of its path, but I ended up getting both of us crushed.

My vision blurred for a while and I couldn't make out the voices around me. I slowly came to realize that Kyoko and I were still alive for the moment, somehow. Akemi was panting next to us, with Kyubey and Madoka looking on from a distance.

I realized that Kyubey was moving to touch Madoka in the same way he touched me to create my soul gem, too late to shout a warning to Akemi. In my state, it barely amounted to a grunt anyway. When Akemi turned around, Madoka's soul gem had already been formed.

What happened next was burned into my memory despite my attempts to forget. Madoka turned and shot one arrow at Walpurgisnacht that tore it to shreds. Her soul gem, still floating above her, turned pitch black and underwent a transformation. Suddenly, Madoka's body burst to pieces and her soul gem, now a grief seed, formed a witch even larger and more powerful than Walpurgisnacht.

I forced myself to stand, picking up the grief seed that Kyoko had tried to give me and using it to cleanse my soul gem. Reenergized, I ran over to Akemi and grabbed her by the shoulder. "Now what do we do?!"

I realized I had shouted that right into Akemi's ear when she flinched. She backed away from me and shook her head.

"I messed up somewhere. I have to try it again."

"…What?" I reached out for Akemi before I noticed that she was fiddling with her shield.

Before I could stop her, Akemi vanished from sight and a flash of light forced me to shield my eyes. When the light faded, I turned to see a grief seed on the ground where Akemi was standing.

"Akemi!" I shouted, spinning around in place trying to find her. "Akemi where are you?! You can't just abandon us now!"

Kyubey ran over to the grief seed dropped by Akemi and tapped it. "I thought it'd take more for her to give into despair. I guess she couldn't handle the stress anymore. Strange no witch resulted from it."

"What?!" I looked up at the witch that had formed from the grief seed Madoka had made when she died. Is that what happens when our soul gems are corrupted?…

I heard a pained groan from behind me and remembered Kyoko. I picked up Akemi's grief seed and ran to Kyoko's side. I cleansed her soul gem with Akemi's grief seed and helped her to her feet. She looked up at the new witch and shook her head. "Here I thought we were about to win."

I had no response to that. I turned to look at the witch. It seemed to be floating in place, perfectly still. I wondered if it was waiting for something…

"Kyubey, what is it doing?"

Kyubey hopped onto my shoulder. "Madoka's witch seems to be charging up for a powerful attack of some kind. At the rate of buildup, I'd say it's going to be like that for about a week unless something disturbs it."

Kyoko frowned. "How much power we talking here?"

"Right now, it probably has enough power to destroy the entire city if provoked." Kyubey looked at me. "At any rate, I've gotten what I needed from Madoka. I'll probably be on my way now."

Without a second thought I skewered Kyubey in a sudden fit of rage. I made sure to avoid his vital organs, knowing he could escape in an alternate body if I killed him from what I saw Akemi do to him once. "You used her?! What are you talking about?!"

Kyoko punched Kyubey in the face. "You'd better have some answers, you little jerk!"

Kyubey looked at me. "Why are you so angry? Walpurgisnacht is gone now. Isn't a life or two a good trade for that?"

I pointed at the witch above us. "Uh, didn't you JUST say that thing can destroy the whole city, and is getting ready for something bigger?! That's way worse!"

"Well, it's no longer my problem now that—"

Kyoko punched Kyubey in the face again. "We're making it your problem! Yer not leaving 'til you tell us what the hell is going on and how we can stop that witch you just turned Madoka into!"

Kyubey gave the telepathic equivalent of a sigh. "You humans are strange creatures. I guess I'll try to explain it to you. It'll probably just go over your heads, though." He turned to looked at the witch above us. "You may want to regroup, though. I'm certain you two would die painfully if you tried to fight that witch as you are now."

Kyoko yanked Kyubey off my sword and we started dragging him along. "You'd better have a good reason for this" I muttered, knowing full well Kyubey would have nothing good to say when we interrogated him.


	3. Episode 2

We made our way through the rubble littering the city. As far as anyone else knew, the worst of the "storm" had passed. No one else could see the massive witch blocking out the sunlight. Kyoko and I returned to our normal forms and stuffed Kyubey into a bag so we wouldn't get too much undue attention or risk Kyubey running off.

"I can't believe this shit." Kyoko muttered as she chewed on a pear she had "acquired" from a wrecked convienence store. "We couldn't beat Walpurgisnacht with three people, and now we've got Madoka turning into a bigger witch and Akemi just ditching on us."

"If she's not dead herself." I pulled Akemi's grief seed from my pocket. "The grief seed I used to revive you appeared when Akemi vanished."

Kyoko took another bite from the pear before flinging it into a wall. "I'll bet we were really close, too! Why couldn't Madoka wait just a few minutes?!"

I shook the bag holding Kyubey. "Well, Kyubey? Mind telling us why you went and let Madoka become a magical girl?"

"She asked me and had a wish, so I made a contract with her."

I sighed and decided to hold off on questions until we had a place where we wouldn't be disturbed. I noticed that we were close to Akemi's old apartment and decided to head that way. She wouldn't be needing it any longer, anyway.

Kyoko and I made sure there was no way for Kyubey to escape the apartment before dumping him out of his bag. I pulled out Akemi's grief seed and shoved it into Kyubey's face, making sure he was absolutely clear what I was talking about so he couldn't twist his words.

"Explain to me why Madoka is a witch and Akemi left behind a grief seed."

Kyubey looked at Kyoko, then back at me. "It's only natural for magical girls to mature into witches when their soul gems are filled with negative emotions."

I growled and rubbed my forehead. "Maybe that's something you should have told us, you know, SOONER?!"

"You never ask—"

Kyubey's attempt at a response was cut off my Kyoko punting him across the room. "That's not something we should have to ask about you little jerk!"

Kyubey rolled over and stood up, though the deep wound from being impaled earlier seemed to slow him down. "I don't understand what you're both so angry about. You got your wishes, didn't you? You both knew this was a dangerous trade."

"Sounds like we didn't get all the facts up front." Kyoko growled. She looked up at me. "Sayaka, you handle this. I can't look at him without wanting to strangle him."

Kyoko stormed off, grabbing a box of pocky she had left on a table the last time we were here as she left. I walked over to Kyubey and lifted him up by the back of his neck.

"Alright, so we become witches when we die. What else should we know about? I want to be perfectly clear now so we don't have to beat it out of you later."

"That's all there is to it." Kyubey wiggled a bit under my grip. "You make a contract for a wish and become a magical girl. For a while, you fight witches. Eventually, you can't go on any longer and become a witch yourself. Then another magical girl defeats you and collects your grief seed."

"What's the point?!" I shook Kyubey. "What do you use grief seeds for that's worth all of this you're putting us through?"

"I don't expect you to understand the specifics, but there's only so much energy in the universe, and that amount shrinks each day. So when we found that human emotions could create more energy through the process of growing witches, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity."

"What, so we're like a spare set of batteries to you?" I flung Kyubey aside and tore at my hair.

I stood there, trying to go over everything that happened to me since I learned about magical girls and witches. I remembered Mami's death, Madoka's transformation, and Akemi's disappearance. All of this… just so that someone could keep their equivalent of electricity running for a little longer.

"You are going to fight Madoka's witch, aren't you?"

I spun around to face Kyubey, who seemed to be recovering from his injuries somehow. He looked up at me.

"You're going to need more than two people to challenge Madoka if you want to survive. I was going to be on my way now that my quota is filled, but I could stick around long enough to make another contract."

I was about to run at Kyubey and stomp his smug face in when someone grabbed me by the arm. I looked back to see Kyoko frowning at me.

"It sucks to admit it, but he's got a point." Kyoko let go of my arm. "I don't want to force anyone else into our shoes either, but we can't just let Madoka blow up the city."

Taking a deep breath, I turned to face Kyubey again. "Did you have someone in mind, or are we just going to wander until someone you like happens by?"

"I think we should find Hitomi Shizuki. Once she learns of Madoka's transformation she will be a perfect candidate."

I clenched my teeth. Kyubey showed his true colors by sharing his reason for wanting Hitomi. He knew she would be succeptible to becoming a witch herself.

Thinking about Hitomi, I felt conflicted. I didn't want to bring anyone else into this fight. It wasn't right to force this life on someone just because we were a person short. But a part of me wondered if Kyosuke would notice my feelings for him if Hitomi was out of the way…

I shook my thoughts away. Hitomi was my friend; I had no right to think like that.

"Sayaka?" Kyoko laid a hand on my shoulder.

I sighed. "I… don't want to. But we might not have a choice. Even with Akemi we couldn't beat Walpurgisnacht, and Madoka is a lot stronger." I turned to face her. "I'll need to ask a favor of you, though…"

Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "What might that be?"

"I need you to collect grief seeds. We used up everything we had saved up while fighting Walpurgisnacht, so we'll need more to fight Madoka and stand a chance at winning."

Kyoko nodded. "I'll get right on it. We going to make this our meeting place?"

I nodded in return. "Might as well. I don't think Akemi is coming back."

Sliding a stick of pocky into her mouth, Kyoko turned to leave. Before she left she stopped and held out the box to me. "Want one?"

After a moment's hesitation I nodded and pulled one out. Kyoko grinned and headed out. I felt Kyubey hop onto my shoulder and knew it was time for me to get going too.

"Let's just be clear, Kyubey: after this is over, I never want to see you again."

Kyubey looked up at me. "As long as you live I'll still be part of your life, Sayaka."


	4. Episode 3

I waited outside the shelter for Hitomi to arrive. Luckily she had her cell phone on her, so I was able to convince her to meet me alone outside the shelter while the "storm" was relatively calm. Kyubey sat next to me on a bench, his wounds from earlier almost completely healed.

"We're telling her everything before she decides, understand me?" I glared at Kyubey. "We're not tricking her into this."

"Do you feel like I tricked you?" Kyubey looked up at me expectantly.

"Don't even go there." I looked away, clenching my fists.

A few awkward minutes later I saw Hitomi walking toward us. She did a double take upon seeing Kyubey before she sat down next to me.

"Is that… a cat, or something?"

"Or something, yeah." I rubbed my forehead. "There's some things I need to tell you, Hitomi."

Hitomi looked at Kyubey and then at me. "Did something happen?…"

"Your friend Madoka sacrificed herself to save the city from a monster, but now she—"

I grabbed Kyubey by the throat and squeezed. "Kyubey, shut up."

Kyubey wriggled out of my grip. "I thought you said we we going to tell her everything?"

"That doesn't mean it has to be all at once!" I seethed at Kyubey. I realized Hitomi had no context for this and tried to calm myself down and face her again. Her face was wrinkled with confusion and worry.

"D-did that thing just talk?!"

I grabbed Hitomi by the shoulder. "This is going to be a lot to take in, alright? I need you to listen carefully."

Hitomi bit her lip and nodded. "A-alright…"

With Kyubey's "help" I explained to Hitomi everything that had happened so far. From meeting Kyubey, to Mami's death, to Kyoko's arrival, to fighting Walpurgisnacht. She controlled her reaction pretty well at first, seeming calm even though I'm sure she was confused. But when I confirmed that Madoka was dead I noticed that she was barely choking back tears.

"Why has it come to this?" Hitomi covered her face to hide her tears.

Kyubey hopped over me and onto Hitomi's lap. "Can't help it now. What you can do is become a magical girl and help Sayaka and Kyoko save the city!"

I grabbed Kyubey and pulled him off of Hitomi. "Could you give her two minutes to mourn, jackass?"

Hitomi wiped away her tears and looked at me. "C-could I really be of help? Akemi was a magical girl for a while, and I just learned about all of this…"

I sighed and looked away. "To be honest, it's a longshot. But I know for a fact that Kyoko and I can't do this alone."

I heard Hitomi jump to her feet and turned to see her trying her best to look determined. "Then… I do what I can to help."

Kyubey hopped over to Hitomi and began to pester her about her wish. I cradled my head in my hands as I listened to them dicuss the terms of the contract. Was it even worth dooming Hitomi over this?…

Hitomi started phrasing her wish, which was something about being supportive for Kyosuke or something. As soon as I got an idea what she was wishing for I walked out of earshot. I didn't want to hear about what she wished for.

Once the contract was made and Hitomi's soul gem formed I walked back over to her. I didn't even try to conceal my grim expression. "It's done?"

Holding her soul gem close, Hitomi nodded slowly. "It's done…"

Kyubey looked up at me. "Well, the rest is up to you magical girls. If you survive, maybe we'll meet again."

As much as I wanted to see Kyubey leave, I couldn't help but feel betrayed again. "So, that's it? You got your contracts and witches, so you're just going to leave?"

"That's how it is. I need to take care of some things back with the other Incubators. Try not to let the city get destroyed while I'm gone!"

Without another word from any of us, Kyubey bounded away into the city. I was glad to see him go.

"Now what?…"

I looked up to see Hitomi clutching her soul gem uncertainly. I patted her on the shoulder. "For now, go back to your family. We need to train you a bit before we fight Madoka, but we need to find a safe way to do it."

"But… we only have a few days before Madoka—"

"We're not going to do anyone any favors by rushing in and getting killed." I turned Hitomi around to face the shelter. "I'll call you when we've found something for you to train on. For now you should get some rest."

Hitomi nodded slowly. "Okay…"

After one more gentle push Hitomi walked back into the shelter to rejoin her family. I considered heading home myself, then thought better of it and made my way back to Akemi's apartment. Better to go missing for a week than to mess something up by not being prepared.


	5. Episode 4

The week passed by painfully slow. Kyoko prepared Hitomi for battle by fighting some of the minor witches that started appearing in the city after Walpurgisnacht's defeat. We learned that Hitomi's specialty was more of a support role: she could improve the abilities of others, but was mostly useless at fighting for herself. As helpful as that could be, I felt like it was going to be useless against Madoka.

I started to train on my own, letting Hitomi and Kyoko get to know each other better without getting in their way. I couldn't think clearly enough to talk with them normally anyway. The threat of Madoka's witch hung over all of us, but at least Kyoko and Hitomi seemed to be able to ignore it long enough to have normal conversations between collecting grief seeds.

Slowly I came to realize that there was only one day left to prepare to fight Madoka. No matter what we did, we didn't seem to get any stronger. I started to wonder if there was even a point to trying anymore…

"Someday you'll just end up breaking…"

Madoka's words crawled into my brain as I walked through the city. She was right, wasn't she? Even if we fought her witch, we'd just end up dead and turning into witches ourselves. Even with a stronger team we couldn't beat Walpurgisnacht, and she is far stronger that it was.

I felt the atmosphere around me shifting and looked up to see the telltale signs of a ward forming around me. I transformed by reflex and drew my sword, preparing myself for the witch. I felt a bit sick and held up my soul gem to get a better look at it and saw swirls of darkness filling it. I realized I'd not been using grief seeds to restore myself over the past few days, despite using so much of my magic to fight witches.

I briefly considered retreating to purify my soul gem, then coming back to fight the witch. Then I decided I'd stand my ground. What did it matter if I died here? Madoka was going to kill us all anyway…

The witch appeared before me and I charged, cutting deep into it. It lashed back at me, flinging me into a wall. I got up and shook off the impact of the blow before striking again. And again. And again.

With every blow, the witch got more and more desperate. It slashed at me with massive talons, rending my flesh. I emptied my mind, thinking of nothing but killing the witch. I couldn't ever hope to beat Madoka as a normal magical girl. It was only when I lost myself like this that I was ever any good at fighting…

Slash. Parry. Dodge.

I barely noticed the wounds I took during the pitched battle as the witch summoned familiars to protect it. I wouldn't have known I was hurt at all if not for all the blood oozing from my body.

Cut. Stab. Lunge.

The witch was cornered now. No escape. No help. All that was left was for it to die.

I raised my sword for the final blow and heard laughter. It took me a moment to realize it was my own.

"You have nothing left now. It's time for you to die!"

I brought down my sword and watched the witch dissolve into nothingness, leaving behind a single grief seed.

If only I could fight like this against Madoka. If I could, we might stand a chance.

Cackling to myself, I picked up the grief seed. Kyoko would be pleased to know I was pulling my weight in the collection. Maybe we wouldn't die hating each other.

I turned around to walk away, but I noticed the labyrinth was still present. It seemed different, but it was still there. I sighed and grabbed my soul gem, thinking I'd purify it before fighting the second witch.

Eheheh…

So that's why the ward is still here.

In one hand, I held the grief seed of the witch I'd just murdered. In the other, I held a grief seed with the same design as my soul gem.

I felt a grin spread across my face and I looked up to see a massive witch standing over me with a sword in hand. I waited for it to become violent, but suddenly it knelt down before me.

Realization dawned over me and my grin got even wider. "If I can fix even one thing before I die, I guess I won't be able to do it as a normal magical girl. I see why this happened to me now…"

The witch in front of me nodded and stood as if at attention. I felt the labyrinth starting to fade as I regained my composure. I gripped my grief seed tightly near my chest and smiled at my witch.

"I'll stop Madoka from killing everyone if it's the last thing I do…" I saw a flicker of light inside my grief seed and I nodded at my witch. "Let's go… Oktavia."


	6. Episode 5

I stood beneath the massive form of Madoka's witch, watching it while I waited for Kyoko and Hitomi to arrive. The moon was setting. Within a few hours it would be dawn.

Hearing footsteps behind me, I slowly turned around to face Kyoko. I tossed the grief seed I had found to her and she caught it without seeming to see it coming.

"We don't have as many grief seeds as we had for Walpurgisnacht, but I guess we gotta take our chances now…"

I chuckled. "We'll be fine, Kyoko."

Kyoko frowned and looked at me. I realized I had my back to the setting moon, so my face was probably obscured in darkness. "Are you feeling alright, Sayaka? You sound different…"

Holding up my grief seed, I turned so that the reflected light of the moon could illuminate my face. "I am different."

Kyoko's eyes widened and she took a step back after she saw the design on the grief seed. "Sayaka, are you—"

At just that moment Hitomi rounded a corner and ran over to us. "Sorry I'm late! I had to convince my mom to let me—"

Hitomi stopped in her tracks when I turned to greet her with a grin. Was there something on my face?…

Kyoko transformed and held up her spear. "A-are you going to be a problem, Sayaka?…"

Ah, right. My grief seed.

"Don't worry about me." I walked over to Hitomi and took her by the hand. I felt her heart rate increasing as she shivered under my touch. I gently took her soul gem from her other hand and held my grief seed to it. As I expected, the blackness in her soul gem transferred to my grief seed. I felt a surge of energy as my grief seed became darker and darker…

Handing Hitomi back her soul gem, I transformed and smiled. "Let's take care of Madoka now. We only have until dawn before it'll be too late to stop her."

The other two looked at each other uncertainly and it looked like they were going to say something to slow me down. I couldn't allow that, so I clutched my grief seed tightly to summon Oktavia and her ward. The world transformed around us, locking us in with Madoka and Oktavia.

"Now the city will be safe until we're finished." I grinned at Hitomi and Kyoko. "Shall we?"

Without waiting for an answer I leaped at Madoka's witch. I emptied my mind of everything but killing the witch. This was what I was made for, wasn't it? Killing.

Familiars as powerful as normal witches began to appear to defend their master, but Kyoko and Hitomi managed to distract them from me while I carved deep into Madoka's form. Whenever Madoka dodged my strike, Oktavia took a swing that hit home.

Eventually the familiars were all dealt with, or so I assumed when Kyoko joined me in fighting the massive witch. I commanded Oktavia to attack a different side of Madoka to avoid hitting Kyoko by accident. With that done, I emptied my mind again and started swinging.

Red.

The color of blood.

I felt the splashes of blood all over my body as I swung my sword into the foe before me, over and over.

Do witches bleed like this?

It doesn't matter.

I have to kill her.

This is sure a lot of blood…

Wait. Madoka's witch doesn't have red hair…

I stopped myself mid-swing to catch my breath and figure out what was going on.

Looking around, Oktavia's ward was still intact. But there was no sign of Madoka's witch.

I heard crying and screaming and groans of pain.

Did we win?…

I looked down and started to realize what was happening.

Kyoko lay on the ground, bleeding from a hundred wounds. Her soul gem was nearly pitch black. Beside her, Hitomi was desperately holding up a used-up grief seed to Kyoko's soul gem.

That's right… I'm only good for one thing now.

Killing.

I should have known it would come to this.

Everything moved slowly and on its own, as if I were in a dream. I saw myself toss my grief seed at Kyoko, tell her to use it to save herself. She sniffled and said something about how she'd rather I lived on instead. I stumbled over to her and forced her to purify her soul gem with my grief seed.

Hitomi grabbed me by the arm and started crying onto my shoulder. I shook her off and snatched her soul gem, purifying that one as well.

I started to realize what was happening. I was no longer Sayaka Miki.

I am Oktavia.

Her last good deeds finished, Sayaka stuck our grief seed into her chest by the point. Hitomi and Koyko shouted in surprise. I could only watch helplessly as Sayaka impaled us on her sword, ending it for both of us.


	7. Epilogue

"What an idiot!"

I raised my soul gem and was about to fling it to the ground when Hitomi grabbed me by the wrist. I turned and snarled at her, too angry to think clearly.

"Don't!" Hitomi pried my soul gem from my fingers and backed away. "Sayaka sacrificed herself for us. We can't waste that sacrifice!"

I stepped toward Hitomi and tried to grab her by the collar, but she sidestepped out of my way and I nearly tripped on my own foot. I growled and spun around to glare at her. "We WON! No one needed to sacrifice anything!"

Hitomi shook her head, looking away from me with a frown. "Something happened to Sayaka… she was too far gone to save. So she protected us from herself."

"Why?! Why did she have to give up like that?!"

Hitomi sniffled. "Would you have rather fought her like we fought Madoka?…"

I was about to continue, but then I realized something. In just under a week Hitomi had lost her two closest friends. And here I was, yelling at her like she didn't understand how upset I was…

Snarling, I transformed back to normal and turned away from Hitomi. "Sorry…"

I looked down at my hands and realized they were shaking. Why did Sayaka have to remind me what it was like to have hope? I was better off the way I was…

A hand touched my shoulder, almost gently enough for me to mistake it for the wind. Another hand took my own shivering hand and placed my soul gem in it. Then I felt Hitomi wrap her arms around me and start crying.

"Dammit. Don't cry…" I sniffled, choking back tears of my own.

I don't know how long we just stood there, trying not to break down into tears. Eventually we moved Sayaka's body so that it would look like she was killed in the "storm." At this point, there wasn't much else we could do for her or her family…

I walked Hitomi back to the shelter her family was staying at. With the witches gone, it was only a matter of days before the emergency situation was lifted and everyone would go home like nothing had happened.

Before she went in, Hitomi hugged me. I realized I had let tears streak down my cheeks and tried to wipe them off while Hitomi clung to me.

"What will we do now?…"

I sighed. "What we usually do, I guess. Kill witches, collect grief seeds, try not to die…"

The world seemed to be getting a bit brighter and I looked to the side to see the sun rising over the horizon.

"She didn't even get to see the dawn one last time…" I muttered, choking on my own words. I returned Hitomi's hug, suddenly feeling incredibly lonely.

"We'll keep fighting. It's what Sayaka would have wanted." Hitomi sniffled into my chest, shaking slightly.

I nodded, feeling the warmth of the rising sun that Sayaka would never feel again. I wouldn't let her down.


End file.
